Abstract: This article explains the IBM® Lotus® Quickr™ Connectors (for Domino), especially focusing on how to debug and troubleshoot this feature of Lotus Quickr. Included are instructions to help customers understand what debug information and files to collect before contacting Lotus Support, if they cannot resolve an issue on their own.
Contents
1 What is the Quickr connectors feature?
2 Minimum install requirements
2.1 Connector Client—Server compatibility
3 Installing the Quickr connectors plug-in
4 Installing the Quickr connectors client
4.1 Performing a Silent Install/Uninstall
4.2 Setting an alternative connector install location
4.3 Hiding the Quickr connector download links
4.4 Preventing the use of connectors
4.5 Preventing a place from being displayed
5 Troubleshooting Connector issues
5.1 Repairing an existing client connectors installation
5.2 The Connector Install log
5.3 Verifying the release of the connectors client
5.4 Determining whether the connectors client is running
6 Managing cache conflicts/errors
6.1 Clearing an error
7 Quickr connector hotfixes
8 Debugging the Quickr connector client
8.1 WebServicesLogging server debug
8.2 DITrace client debug
9 Uploading large files using connectors
9.1 Increasing the timeout value
9.2 Increasing the default max file upload size
10. Known limitations
10.1 Windows file path limitation (255 chars)
10.2 Other limitations
10.3 FAQ’s
11 Reporting an issue to Lotus Support
12 Resources
13 About the author
1 What is the Quickr connectors feature?
The connectors feature of Lotus Quickr is a client plug-in that enables the Quickr user to work with their Team Places, Blogs, and Wikis from within other popular desktop applications. It provides an easy way to work with files within Microsoft® Windows® Explorer, Lotus Sametime®, Lotus Notes®, and Microsoft Office, whereby you are not limited to using only the Web browser UI to upload and modify content in a Quickr place.
Figure 1 illustrates the high-level architecture of the connectors on-ramp.
Figure 1. High-level architecture
After installing the Quickr connectors plug-ins, you will see familiar Quickr actions in the Menu and Tool bars of these applications with which you can manage content in your places. The client connects to the Domino Quickr Server via the HTTP Protocol, using the Domino Quickr WebServices components.
This feature was introduced in Lotus Quickr Release 8.0 and is enhanced further in the Quickr 8.1 codestream. It’s available to users on both Domino and J2EE Quickr Platforms.
Though the client UI is identical regardless of the backend platform, the administration and tr
oubleshooting of the Domino connectors differ significantly from those of the J2EE Connectors. This guide focuses primarily on Lotus Domino Quickr; however, much of the information also applies to the Quickr J2EE Connectors.
2 Minimum install requirements
To install the Quickr connector, the client PC must be running the programs outlined in table 1.
Table 1. Install requirements
Operating Systems:
| Microsoft Windows XP SP2,
Microsoft Windows 2003,
Microsoft Windows Vista*
(All above With latest Fix Packs)
(* Does Not Support 64bit features) |
Applications: | Lotus Notes 7.0.3 or later
Lotus Notes 8.0.1+ (for Quickr Side Panel Feature)
Lotus Notes 8.0.2 (requires at least Connector HF8)
Lotus Notes 8.5 (requires at least Connector HF10)
Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 or 8.0.
Microsoft Office XP,
Microsoft Office 2003,
Microsoft Office 2007*
(*Lotus Sidebar for Microsoft Office only supports version 2007.)
(* Does Not Support 64bit features of XP/2007. 32bit basic functions only.) |
Note that Microsoft Windows 2000 and Office 2000 are unsupported in Lotus Quickr versions 8.1 and later.
2.1 Connector Client—Server compatibility
Be aware of the following compatibility constraints:
· Lotus Quickr 8.1 supports only 8.1 connector versions.
· A client running an older connector client release installed from an 8.0 or an 8.0.0.2 server is not supported to work with a Quickr 8.1 server. Problems will occur if you access an 8.0/8.0.0.2 place using the 8.1 connectors client.
· When an 8.0 connectors client connects to an 8.0.0.1 or later server, the client receives a "Server version not compatible" error message. You must upgrade the client to the 8.0.0.1 or later version.
· Lotus Quickr 8.0 supports only 8.0 connector versions.
· Lotus Quickr 8.0.0.1 supports 8.0.0.1 and 8.0.0.2 connector versions.
· Lotus Quickr 8.0.0.2 supports 8.0.0.1, 8.0.0.2, and 8.1 connector versions. (An 8.0.0.2 Connector Client is required to use 8.0.0.2 Lotus Quickr features.)
· The key indicators that the connector client is being used to connect to an incompatible Quickr Server release are connection issues and content access issues. You can confirm these by checking that users can connect to the same Place/Content via the Web interface using a supported Web browser.
· Some fix packs also require a specific server fix pack for the fix to be fully implemented. This is clarified specifically in the hotfix / fix pack instructions.
3 Installing the Quickr connectors plug-in
The Quickr connectors client is easy to access and install. By default, from within the Quickr Web User Interface you can choose to download the Quickr connectors client from several locations within Lotus Quickr. For example, on the My Places home page there is a link to connectors, and at the footer of every Place is a link for connectors. The Quickr Administrator can hide these links as required.
The Sametime, Notes, Microsoft Office, and Windows Explorer connectors plug-ins are all packaged within one Install executable. The connectors client installer package is named qkrconn.exe and is located on the Quickr Domino Server in the ..\data\domino\html directory. Clicking on the Connectors Link launches the connectors install program on the Client PC.
When a user clicks the Connectors Download Link in My Places (see figure 2), this simply prompts the client user to downl
oad the connector install package from the ..\data\domino\html\ directory. The installer file qkrconn.exe will be saved to the specified location on the client PC.
Figure 2. Connector Download link on the Quickr Home Page
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You are given the choice to install the different connector plug-ins: Explorer, Notes, Sametime, Office, and Symphony. You can install one or all of them, as long as you have the supported versions of these applications installed on the client PC already.
At a minimum the plug-in for Windows Explorer will be installed. The Installer will verify whether the application is installed and the location of the application’s program files by using information in the Registry. Your Windows log-in ID must have Administrator privileges, or else the installation of connectors will fail.
All applications on the client PC should be shut down before the install is started; otherwise, integration of the plug-in will fail because the key components of the Quickr connectors integrate with explorer.exe. Also, you must reboot immediately after install in early releases of Connectors (8.0); if you do not, unexpected behavior can occur.
4 Installing the Quickr connectors client
Follow these steps to install the Quickr connectors client:
1. Close Notes, Sametime, and Office applications.
2. Open a browser session and load My Places Home Page.
3. Click the Download Lotus Quickr Connectors link.
4. Select Run to start the installation qkrconn.exe (or save it locally so that it can be run at a later time or silently).
5. Follow the self-explanatory prompts from the installation wizard.
6. Reboot if prompted (for pre-8.0 Quickr Connector releases).
4.1 Performing a Silent Install/Uninstall
Administrators can silently upgrade or install connectors from the command prompt as follows:
1. Copy qkrconn.exe to the desired location to run the silent installation.
2. Open a command prompt and navigate to the directory of qkrconn.exe.
3. Enter the required silent install command qkrconn.exe with switches. For example, to perform a silent un-install of connectors with no restart, use:
“qkrconn.exe /uninstall /quiet /norestart”
For a full list of commands and switches, type
qkrconn.exe /?
This displays a Usage window listing the parameters and switches (see figure 3).
Figure 3. Qkeconn.exe /? Output window
4.2 Setting an alternative connector install location
By default the qkrconn.exe file is installed from the …\Data\Domino\html\ directory. The Quickr Administrator can specify an alternative location for the Connector install file that will be launched as soon as the Download Connectors link is clicked, as follows:
1. Open the qpconfig.xml file and add the following section:
http://anotherserver.com/qkrconn.exe
2. Remove any Start and End Sample tags, remembering the Qpconfig.xml is case sensitive.
3. Verify that the URL specified in Qpconfig.xml (that is, http://anotherserver.com/qkrconn.exe) is a valid download location accessible to users.
4.
Save and close the qpconfig.xml, and then restart the Domino HTTP task (tell http restart).
Users should now be directed to the alternative URL specified in the Qpconfig.xml for the source qkrconn.exe download file.
4.3 Hiding the Quickr connector download links
To hide the connectors download links, follow these steps:
1. Open the qpconfig.xml and add the following section:
2. Remove any Start & End sample tags, remembering the Qpconfig.xml is case sensitive.
3. Save and close the qpconfig.xml file, and restart the Domino HTTP task (tell http restart).
This should remove the connectors download links that appear on My Places and on the footer of every Place.
4.4 Preventing the use of connectors
Connectors are available for use by default, but the Quickr Administrator can prevent them from being used on a per-server basis, after the Quickr member has already installed the client plug-in:
1. Open the qpconfig.xml and add the following section:
2. Remove any Start and End sample tags, remembering that Qpconfig.xml is case sensitive.
3. Save and close the qpconfig.xml.
4. Restart the Domino HTTP task (tell http restart).
If you disable Web Services using the XML parameters above, users can download the connectors but cannot access the server through them. Existing Places added previously to the connectors UI will also be unavailable.
4.5 Preventing a place from being displayed
Using the Quickr Administration Web Interface, it is not currently possible to prevent a place from being used with the Connector UI. An enhancement request to add this ability has been submitted to Quickr Product Development and is being investigated for a future release (via Lotus Quickr SPR #MPUL7MFG5Q).
It is, however, possible to prevent a place from being displayed in the list of places in the “Add Places” Connector UI. To do this, you can create a Notes Formula agent in the PlaceCatalog.nsf database and run this against Place documents for places that should not be available in the Connectors UI. The formula to use is:
FIELD h_ShowInOnramp:= "false"; @All;
After running the agent, open the document and review the hidden document properties to verify that the field is created and correctly set to false.
The Quickr Connector “Add Places” user interface generates the list of places from the PlaceCatalog.nsf of the Quickr Server. If the PlaceCatalog.nsf Place document field h_ShowInOnramp is set to false, then this will prevent the place from appearing in the Connector list.
To reverse this, set the h_ShowInOnramp field to “true”. This is the default setting. Figure 4 shows the h_ShowInOnramp field correctly set to false, after the agent is run.
Figure 4. Result after the PlaceCatalog.nsf agent is run
5 Troubleshooting Connector issues
Let’s now discuss some troubleshooting guidelines.
5.1 Repairing an existing client connectors installation
The majority of installation issues occur because the connectors install is run while integrated applications such as Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes, and Lotus Sametime are still running—either in the foreground or background of the client PC. These applications must be closed during shut down, o
r else certain features, such as Lotus Notes Provisioning, will fail to install.
If the initial installation has failed on one PC, or connectors was previously working and stops loading after a while, the first recommended action is to repair the existing installation. Ensure all other desktop applications are shut down, and re-run the qkrconn.exe, ensuring it is the correct version for the Quickr Domino Server to which the client is connecting.
Running the Qkrconn.exe on an existing installation presents you with three options: Modify, Repair, and Remove (see figure 5).
Figure 5. Modify, repair, or remove the program
Selecting the Repair option validates the existing installation to ensure the required install files exist.
This is the first step to take when troubleshooting individual Connector Client install issues.
5.2 The Connector Install log
The Connector Install log is another useful feature for troubleshooting and debugging Connector install issues. The default location of the connectors installation log is:
C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\MSI.LOG
Look for the NCICAInstallNotesShelf and NCICAUninstallNotesShelf strings. You should see something like this:
Action ended 17:26:21: NCICAInstallNotesShelf. Return value 1.
Return value of 1 means action completed successfully; 3 means it failed. At the end of the log, on a successful installation you should see the following:
MSI (c) (20:74) [23:29:03:781]: Product: Lotus Quickr connectors -- Installation operation completed successfully.
In addition to the general connectors install log, there are also install logs specific to the plug-in application. In the case of Lotus Notes Provisioning, for example, this log is installed to:
\Data\workspace\logs\provisioning.log 5.3 Verifying the release of the connectors client
The release of the connectors client is significant in troubleshooting issues. If you are not 100% sure which build is being used, there are two easy methods for obtaining the build:
1. Using Buildinfo.txt:
a. Open the file C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus Quickr connectors\BuildInfo.txt.
b. The build is displayed on the first line of this .txt file. In the example in figure 6, the installed connectors version is 8.1.0.110.
Figure 6. Example Buildinfo.txt
2. Using About > Dialog
a. Right-click the orange Quickr Connector icon to display the menu shown in figure 7.
Figure 7. Menu options
b. Select About; the “About Lotus Quickr connectors” screen displays (see figure 8).
Figure 8. About connectors screen
5.4 Determining whether the connectors client is running
When the connectors client is running, you should be able to see the trademark orange icon on the task bar. If not, you’ve either hidden the icon from display or the connector client is not running.
To check whether the connector client is currently running:
1. Load Windows Task Manager (cmd taskmgr).
2. Click the Processes tab.
3. Search for the DIMon.exe process.
One instance of the DIMon.exe process should be running if Quickr connectors plug-in is working
as designed. DiMon.exe is the main connectors executable and, when it’s loaded, you will see the orange trademark icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Windows task bar.
The Quickr Monitor lets you add Places, set preferences, and clear the cache, as well as report the status of uploads, round-trip editing, and issues managing content using connectors.
If there are no instances of DIMon.exe running, start it as follows:
1. Go to the Quickr Connector Program directory on the client. By default, this directory is installed in C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus Quickr connectors\
2. Double-click the DIMon.exe file.
6 Managing cache conflicts/errors
Every place added to the connectors UI has its own cache folder. By default this is located in the following directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Libraries\ServerName\PlaceName
A user can change their local cache directory as required by launching the Connector Place Preferences “Temporary File Location” setting.
When a place file is accessed via connectors, any changes saved to that file are saved in the cache folder location, and the file will remain there until it is successfully checked out. If there is an issue preventing the successful upload of the file to the place on the Quickr server, the file will remain in the connectors cache.
Connectors will flag documents as having an "error," if the user changes a document and saves it but those changes fail to upload to the server correctly. Anytime a
document is flagged as having an error, a bubble 
will appear in the system tray notifying the user.
Changes can fail to upload for a number of reasons, the most common of which is that the document was not checked out. Other reasons include network or server errors.
If the document was saved, failed to upload, and was marked as having an "error", the Connector plug-in will not download the latest version of the document from the server until the user manually "clears" the error. In this way the changes the user made to the document locally are not overwritten, thus preventing data loss.
6.1 Clearing an error
To clear an error on a document, right-click the Monitor icon in the system tray and select Status; a list of your places displays (see figure ). Right-click (or double-click) the place that contains your document and select "Show Errors". This displays all the documents that have errors associated with them in that place.
Figure 9. Quickr Monitor Place Listing
If you right-click the document, you’ll see the options Retry and Clear Error, so you can retry the upload or just clear it. If the error is cleared, the next time you open the document through the connectors, you’ll get the latest version from the server, in which the changes saved to the document locally will be overwritten.
To configure automatic deletion of documents from the connect
or cache:
1. Right-click the Connector icon.
2. Select Cache Settings from the menu.
3. Check the box “Enable auto deletion of locally cached files” (see figure 9).
Figure 10. Cache Settings dialog
4. Set the amount of time, in number of days and minutes, that you want the Monitor to wait before deleting the file. Click OK.
The cache settings can also be changed by manipulating the Registry entries for them directly. The settings are in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\Lotus Quickr\Desktop Integration
with string subkeys:
CacheAge [Age is the number of days]
CacheEnabled [“1” for enabled; zero for disabled]
CacheFrequency [Frequency is the number of minutes]
7 Quickr connector hotfixes
Periodically, Lotus Quickr Development posts critical hotfixes to the IBM Fix Central Web site for customers to download instantly. Customers should check Fix Central at least every month to see what critical hotfixes are available.
A connectors hotfix is released in the following format for Quickr Domino customers:
(1) Updated Qkrconn.exe Installer file.
(2) Updated Buildinfo.txt file.
(3) Full implementation instruction document (including fix list).
In some cases, certain defects require a server fix pack upgrade in addition to application of the connector hotfix before the defect is completely resolved. These issues are detailed in the hotfix instruction document and fix list.
Applying the hotfix involves two main steps:
1. Update the server so that the existing Quickr connector installer is
overwritten, enabling new installations to use the updated QKRConn.exe.
2. Upgrade existing client PCs by re-running the hotfix qkrconn.exe installer.
After any connector upgrade, it is recommended you check the client file C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus Quickr connectors\buildinfo.txt to ensure it’s identical to the buildinfo.txt that is provided with the Quickr connector hotfix .
8 Debugging the Quickr connector client
There are two main wa
ys to debug the Quickr connector client using product debugging. One method is to debug the client session and also the connection from the Domino server end. Another method is to use third-party debug tools to trace the HTTP/HTTPS session from the client to server; for example, WireShark or Ethereal can be used to trace verbose HTTP activity.
8.1 WebServicesLogging server debug
The backend server component of the Quickr Domino server is known as the WebServices component. This is code that handles the connectors client requests. You can debug the Quickr WebServices requests by enabling the following debug parameter in the Quickr Domino Notes.ini file:
QuickPlaceWebServicesLogging =5
After adding this parameter to the Notes.ini file, you must restart the Domino server, after which a file called WebServices.log is generated in the Domino program directory. This file contains the requests and responses from and to the connectors as shown in figure 10.
Figure 11. WebServices file
QuickPlaceWebServicesLogging should only be enabled for short periods of time, to troubleshoot specific technical issues, as this file can grow quite large and potentially cause a performance hit to the server.
To disable the WebServices logging, reset the Notes.ini parameter to zero and restart the Domino server.
8.2 DITrace client debug
The connectors client comes with its own client debugging tool called DITrace.
DITrace.exe is a trace tool that’s designed to capture development-level diagnostic information. It is located in the Connectors Program directory root:
C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus Quickr Connectors\DITrace.exe
Using the tool is easy:
1. Double-click on DITrace.exe.
2. Reproduce the original issue.
3. Go to the DITrace.exe tool window.
4. Save the Debug output to a text file (see figure 11). The default name is qc_trace.log. (Note that the trace tool UI is in English only.)
Figure 12. DITrace output
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As an example, let’s suppose there is no network connection to the Quickr server. In this case, for networking or proxy-related issues you can expect to see the DITrace error:
(3760,1492) CallCommand Exception
(3760,1492) CallCommand: A connection with the server could not be established
(3760,1492) CallCommand: 12029
(3760,1492) getFoldersList error 12029
9 Uploading large files using connectors
9.1 Increasing the timeout value
If users are working with large files or a limited bandwidth and are reporting frequent timeouts uploading/downloading files, the Windows Administrator can add a value to the Windows Registry to improve the situation.
NOTE: The information below is presented as a guideline for making relevant changes within the Microsoft Windows Registry. The Windows Registry is central to the operation of Windows, so any changes should be performed with great care. As with any major configuration change, it is highly recommended that customers have complete backups of their computer systems before attempting the following procedure, in order to allow recovery from system file corruption or other failures. If you require instruction about backing up and modifying the Windows Registry, first contact your system administrator or reference one of the third-party guides available for advanced Windows topics.
To add to the timeout value, do the following:
1. Open the Registry editor
on the client machine and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\Lotus Quickr\Desktop Integration\Servers.
2. Create a new DWORD value named APPRcvTimeOut.
3. Set APPRcvTimeOut to decimal, and enter the amount of time to timeout in seconds (the default is 30 seconds).
4. Create a new DWORD value named WSRcvTimeOut.
5. Set WSRcvTimeOut to decimal, and enter the amount of time to timeout in seconds (the default is 30 seconds).
Note the following about this Registry entry:
· This Registry key is not guaranteed to work in future releases.
· The change increases only the client timeout. The administrator might need to increase any timeout values at the server, proxies, firewalls, and so on.
· The Registry change will be reset or removed, if a user uninstalls and then re-installs the connectors.
9.2 Increasing the default max file upload size
The maximum file size that a user can upload is determined in several configuration places within Lotus Quickr and Lotus Domino. The default Max upload file size limit is set to 10 MB in Quickr 8.1. To increase this value, follow these steps:
1. Set the Maximum Attachment Size field in the Site Administration place:
a. Log into the Lotus Quickr home page as a Lotus Quickr administrator.
b. Go to Site Administration > Other Options.
c. Click the Edit Options button.
d. Set the size of the Maximum Attachment Size field to a larger amount, up to a maximum of 1 GB (1,048,576 KB).
e. Click the Next button to save.
2. Set the HTTP size variables for the server:
a. Open the Domino Administrator client.
b. Edit the Server document of the server running Lotus Quickr.
c. Click the Internet Protocols tab and then click the HTTP tab.
d. Increase the size of the Request timeout field to a larger amount.
e. Increase the size of the "Maximum size of request content" field to a larger amount, up to a maximum of 1 GB (1,048,576 Kb).
f. Save the Server document.
3. Set the Maximum POST data size:
a. Click on the Domino Web Engine tab.
b. Increase the size of the "Maximum POST data" field to a larger amount, up to a maximum of 1 GB (1,048,576 Kb).
c. Save the Server document.
4. Restart the Domino server.
This limit applies to both the connectors uploads and the Web UI uploads.
10. Known limitations
There are several limitations and issues that the Quickr Administrator should be aware of before deploying to users. These limitations affect the functionality of Lotus Quickr.
10.1 Windows file path limitation (255 chars)
Microsoft Windows file systems have a hard file-path limit of 255 characters. Because the connectors must map to the Windows file system, this limit applies to Lotus Quickr also.
Certain Windows applications have a lower limit, such as Microsoft Excel, in which the file path limit is reached earlier, at 218 characters. For more information, refer to Microsoft Help document, Error message when you open or save a file in Microsoft Excel: "Filename is not valid".
When a user tries to upload or download a Quickr file that has a temporary local file location path exceeding the file path limitation for that application, issues can arise for the Quickr user. Specifically, the file launch will fail until the physical local file path is shortened to within the limit.
A file uploaded/downloaded to Quickr is stored locally in the Quickr cache folder, which by default is:
C:\documents and settings\\libraries\ServerName\PlaceName
This means that at least 50 characters are already consumed by the Quickr Default file cache folder. When a place contains many folders, subfolders, rooms, and subrooms, the file path location is also extremely large due to the naming convention used by Lotus Quickr for files in rooms and folders.
Users may be unable to work with such files in the Connectors UI until the filename is shortened or relocated within the place, to reduce the overall file path size. For example, moving the file from a room or a subfolder to the upper main place index is one way to reduce the path size of an uploaded file.
Another workaround is to reduce the size of the file path to prevent Quickr files from having a file path that exceeds 255 (or 218 for MS Excel). To do this, change the “Temporary File Location” setting to a smaller location such as “c:\Quickr\” in the Place Preferences UI.
You can also do this by modifying the Registry. See the
IBM information center Quickr Admin guide for more information on the Registry keys that can be modified.
10.2 Other limitations
Quickr Offline places. The Quickr connectors do not work on offline places; they only work on the live Quickr Server place. This is due to the following:
· First, the connectors client builds its list of available places for the authenticated user on the PlaceCatalog.nsf database in the Domino Data directory. This the primary database that is used by My Places.
· The second reason is that the hostname of the offline place differs from the online place when running a place offline. An enhancement request has been submitted to Lotus Quickr Product Development to address this, via Lotus Quickr SPR# JASH7F2LNZ.
Customized place design. Quickr connectors is supported to work with only the default Quickr PlaceTypes. Any customizations that affect the default views of the place are unsupported, as they may break Quickr connector basic functionality, which in turn is built on the specific design of the default templates of Quickr Domino
.
Email notifications. It is not possible to send email notifications to place members when working in the connectors UI. An enhancement request to add this functionality has been submitted to Lotus Quickr Product Development via Lotus Quickr SPR# DAMC7EGLP.
Proxy support. Quickr Domino release 8.1 is not currently supported to work with an authenticating proxy. This may result in a log-in failure for valid membership credentials or “Error 12057” when trying to add a place to connectors. Though this is unsupported, the Web UI does not exhibit these issues due to the extended browser architecture and settings.
If a user must pass through an authenticating proxy before connecting to Lotus Quickr via HTTPS, the following workaround may offer relief:
1. Open Internet Explorer (IE).
2. Select Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Security options.
3. Uncheck (disable) the option "Check for server certificate revocation".
If this setting is active, IE attempts to verify via the Internet whether the SSL certificate is locked. Because the Quickr connector currently does not support authentication with proxies, the certificate cannot be checked, resulting in Windows refusing the connection to the server. This is one example of a third-party, proxy-related connectors issue.
CA (formerly Netegrity) SiteMinder. Additional configuration of SiteMinder is required to enable the Quickr connectors feature:
1. If not already at Webagent V6QMR5-CR004 or higher, upgrade to the
latest Webagent release.
2. Add “DominoNormalizeUrls=no” (without quotes) to the Agent Conf object
on the Policy Server, or in WebAgent.conf if local configuration is allowed.
3. Issue a "restart task http" command from the Domino server console to
restart HTTP on Domino.
10.3 FAQ’s
Q. After installing the Quickr connector plug-in you notice there’s no Quickr Connector section in the Lotus Notes 8.0 sidebar panel. This should appear in Lotus Notes Release 8.0.1 and later. Why does this occur?
A. There are three possible reasons:
1. Widgets is loaded in Lotus Notes, which can prevent the install of the Connector sidebar panel. To resolve the issue, simply uninstall the Quickr connectors, deactivate the Widgets sidebar panel (File > Preferences > Widgets; uncheck “Show Widget Toolbar and the My Widgets Sidebar panel”), and then re-install Quickr connectors.
2. The client is using the Notes 8.0.2 client without Connectors Hotfix 8. Lotus Notes 8.0.2 requires at least Quickr Connectors HF8 or above.
3. The Sametime Embedded Connect Client must be installed and enabled in Lotus Notes 8.5 and earlier clients in order for the Quickr Connector Sidebar Panel installation to complete successfully. This is a limitation of the Connector Installation Program and is documented in SPR #RELS7N6CN2.
As a workaround, you can uninstall connectors, re-install Lotus Notes and enable the Sametime Embedded client, and then re-install Connectors.
Q. Can I upgrade to the 8.1 version of Quickr connectors without uninstalling first?
A. Yes, you can run upgrade on any previous version of the Connectors to upgrade to 8.1.
11 Reporting an issue to Lotus Support
If you need assistance with a Quickr Domino connectors issue, before opening a PMR with IBM Lotus Technical Support, you should first collect as much of the following information as possible:
· What is the Quickr connectors build? (provide screenshots of About and Buildinfo.txt files)
· Has the latest
Quickr Connectors Hotfix on FixCentral been applied?
· For install issues, collect the MSI*.log file of the installation located in the
C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\ directory.
· For other place access/content issues while using the connectors UI, it is important to test whether the same user can perform the equivalent action in the Quickr Web UI using a supported browser. If it cannot be done in the Quickr Web UI either, then it is unlikely to be a connectors client plug-in issue, and the Quickr server side will require further investigation.
· If the issue occurs only when a place Wiki or Blog is accessed in the connectors UI, debug the problem using DITrace.exe and provide the QKR_trace.txt file to Lotus Support.
· Enable QuickPlaceWebServicesLogging=5 debug on the Domino Quickr server side, to provide the c:\Lotus\Domino\Webservices.log to Lotus Support. Also, Domino HTTP REQUEST logging can also provide helpful debug output (see the Domino Admin Guide for more details on enabling REQ logs).
· Further traces can be carried out using third-party debug tools such as WireShark or Ethereal to debug the HTTP session.
· Gather as much detail about the applications integrated with Quickr
Connectors, such as Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes, Lotus Sametime and Windows OS releases and fix packs. Verify they listed as supported you’re your release of Quickr connectors:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=899&uid=swg27011692
· It is important to establish what places exhibit the problem. Is the issue
occurring in new places, existing upgraded places, or just in some or one
places?
· Is the place customized in any way? Customized views or other added design elements are not supported with the Connectors UI, which is specifically designed to function with the three default templates of Quickr; that is, the Wiki, the Blog, and the “Standard Place for Teams” PlaceTypes.
· Connector authentication issues should be debugged with the Domino Notes.ini debug parameter QuickPlaceAuthenticationLogging=5. The debug output is written to the console.log file. The external user directory type and source is relevant as are the details of the credentials the user is logging in with. The issue may be related to the type of user, how they got membership (for example, implicit group access), SSO, or the character set of the credentials.
· Customers may be asked to provide a copy of the Quickr Place for further investigation, especially if the issue is only occurring for one or a few places. Lotus Support will require the entire Place folder (without the Search.FT folder), details of user membership levels, and screenshots of steps to reproduce the issue.
Providing this information will ensure your PMR is assigned to the correct team of software engineers and help expedite the resolution of your issue.
12 Resources
· Connecting to Lotus Quickr information center page:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/lqkrhelp/v8r0/index.jsp
· Lotus Quickr product page:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/quickr/
· Lotus Quickr product documentation:
http://www.i
bm.com/developerworks/lotus/documentation/quickr/?S_TACT=105AGX13&S_CMP=LP
· Reference Card: Working with Places in IBM Lotus Quickr 8.1 Services for IBM Lotus Domino:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/dw/lotus/Working_with_connectors.pdf
13 About the author
Michelle Purcell is the Lotus Quickr Domino Team Lead for the EMEA Lotus Customer Support team at the IBM Ireland site. She has worked as a Lotus Software Engineer for almost 9 years, providing technical support for customers on Lotus Domino, Messaging, QuickPlace, and more recently focusing on the Quickr Domino product.